A Man Was Crushed to Death By His Pet Snake, Who Was Allegedly Just Trying to Demonstrate Affection

Tragically, a 31-year-old man is dead, having been crushed to death by his own pet.

The pet was neither a puppy, nor a kitten. It was an 8 foot-long python. It escaped the vivarium in which it was kept and crushed its owner to death—in what is now being considered a “show of affection”.w

Dan Brandon was asphyxiated by his snake, who he named Tiny. If you want to make jokes about what I just wrote, I’ll give you a moment to do so. There are obvious jokes to be made.

Babs, Dan’s mother, revealed that her son owned ten snakes as well as 12 tarantulas. He kept them all in his family home, which is located in Hampshire.

Two of the Snakes Image Source: Facebook

Dan has the dubious honor of being the first person in the United Kingdom who died as the direct result of a python. Really, I can think of worse ways to die: after all, people are dead because they’re eating laundry detergent. Dying to a snake is a lot cooler.

It is sort of sad that Dan died to his pet, as he apparently had the snake since it was small enough that the now enormous creature could be held in his hand. I currently own a dog who I could once hold in my hand, and he has bit me in such a fashion that I have bled profusely, so I can sort of relate. Yorkshire Terriers can be dangerous creatures.

The coroner in this case, who considers Dan’s death a “misadventure”, said that the snake was “instrumental” in the death of Dan. However, the death wasn’t intentional on the part of the snake according to the medical professional; it was just trying to show its owner how much it loved it. He described it all as a “moment of peace”, which may have been the case—expect for the fact that Dan is now dead and a family is grieving.

The snake hid after the death of its owner, possibly due to shock. It is possible Tiny reacted poorly to the death of its owner.

The coroner added that he can’t see a reason for Dan’s death beyond the encounter with his snake. The death occurred in late August of 2017.

Dan’s snake might have killed him, but prior to the unfortunate encounter, the two were quite close. According to Dan’s mother, he considered “Tiny” his baby and never really felt threatened by the creature; he was, however, aware of how strong pythons can be.

Advertisement

Image Source: PA

A medical doctor confirmed that Dan was perfectly healthy prior to his death, and there were no puncture wounds on his body. The snake wasn’t aggressive—she just loved her owner a bit too much, apparently.

According to a professor who is an expert on reptiles, Dan was experienced in regard to animals like Tiny. It would have been obvious, said the professor, if the snake had bitten him.

The aforementioned coroner reiterated that there wasn’t any aggression between Tiny and Dan. She either took hold of him, or Dan tripped.

Image Source: Facebook

Dan’s mother recalls hearing a crash from upstairs, where Dan was located at the time of his death. She figured that her son had knocked something over. When it was dinner time, her husband went up to see if Dan was okay, which he clearly was not. They believed Dan had simply fallen asleep. Dan was on the floor, face up.

Sadly, Dan’s story is not terribly unusual. Pets can be dangerous things, and pet snakes are particularly worrisome.

Not too long ago, a man in Indiana died as a result of his snake. It too was a python, except this one was 14 feet long! The snake crushed poor Patrick von Alleman to death. Patrick had been a fan of snakes since he was a teenager. At the time of his death, he was 23 years of age. His pet simply wrapped its body around Patrick’s neck and shoulders.

In regard to Patrick’s death, an Indiana Conservation Officer said that wild animals don’t always make “good pets”. Truer words have probably never been spoken.

Kevin Barrett is an award-winning reporter currently residing in one of the many suburbs of Philadelphia. In addition to working in journalism, he was worked in higher education and logistics. He is single, but does have a distracting little dog who keeps him from achieving maximum productivity.